HEAT SWEEP THE MARLINS
BASKETBALL THE Townsville Heat have clinched back-to-back QBL championships in thrilling fashion with an 84-80 win over the Cairns Marlins to sweep the series 2-0 at the Murray Basketball Centre.
The Heat were up by 11 points just after halftime while Cairns led by four early in the fourth quarter, but the home side found a way to close it out.
Harry Froling (27 points, 18 rebounds) was immense for the Heat to be named finals MVP while Justin Baker (23 points, 6 rebounds) and Josh Wilcher (17 points, 6 rebounds) also stepped up.
The Heat had led from start to finish in the series opener, but they were forced to come from behind in Game 2 as the Marlins grabbed a 21-16 advantage at the first break.
Townsville hit the front midway through the second term thanks to a big three from Wilcher and they went on to outscore Cairns 20-7 for a 47-38 halftime lead.
The Marlins rallied in the 26-15 third quarter to draw level before a Kuany Kuany (23 points, 13 rebounds) triple just before the final break saw them take the lead again at 64-62.
Neither side could buy a basket early in the fourth, with the Marlins just edging out the Heat 4-3.
Baker put Townsville back on top but Michael Nwelue (14 points, 8 rebounds) soon iced two free throws to have them deadlocked again.
That’s when Heat veteran Peter Crawford (7 points) stepped up with a clutch triple to give his side a five-point buffer with less than three minutes left.
The Marlins kept chipping away, but the Heat nailed their trips to the charity stripe to seal the championship.
Retiring Marlin Matt Smith would have liked to call time on his career in a third game but said he was proud of the way his side went out battling.
“The guys went out fighting and I am pretty happy with the way it came to close,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, Townsville Flames were denied a droughtbreaking QBL title on their home floor after the Southern Districts Spartans took out game two 90-78 at the Murray Basketball Centre on Saturday.